


Fix the Tune of My Heart

by mylifeisASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, dexnursey is the main ship, dexnursey musical au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-02-09 18:56:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12894597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylifeisASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents/pseuds/mylifeisASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents
Summary: Derek Nurse is producing his own original musical with an amazing cast and crew. Then, he gets a text from Ford saying that William Poindexter is going to build his set. Poindexter is the most sought-after set builder in the business, so Derek is ecstatic. Will those two leave the romance to the actors or create a romance of their own offstage?





	1. He Said Yes

**Author's Note:**

> Based on my AU on tumblr.  
> https://lifeisaseriesofunfortunateevents.tumblr.com/post/167015580642/lifeisaseriesofunfortunateevents-dexnursey-au

Derek nervously picked at the skin on his fingers. Today was the first rehearsal of his original musical: Fix the Tune of My Heart. He had called everyone involved to the theater he reserved and it was getting near time to leave his apartment. He checked his phone for the fifteenth time in two minutes and his eyes widened at the sight of a new text from Ford. His thumb hovered over the text, either he was getting the best news possible or … you know what? He has to hope for the best. He opens the message.

Derek Nurse did not let out an excited squeal when he heard that _the_ William Poindexter was going to do his set. The musical theater world is small and he has heard of literal fistfights between directors who want Poindexter to do their sets. The man is a god with tools. A couple days ago, Ford hit him up saying that William Poindexter expressed interest in working for Derek and he promptly tripped over his own feet and fell on his face. He didn’t even bother standing back up before he asked Ford if she sent him all the information and whatnot. She responded that she wasn’t an idiot. Poindexter responded that he had to think about his schedule and that he’d get back to her soon. Lo and behold, his set is going to be absolutely amazing and he is just one step closer to his dream of getting to Broadway. He texted Ford that he was on his way to the theater and then left his apartment. He flagged a taxi and told the driver the address of the theater. For the first time, he was going to be meeting all the cast and crew in one space. It was a little daunting, but he took some calming breaths and let himself lean fully into the joy he first felt when he dreamed up this musical.

* * *

He paid the taxi driver and exited the taxi. He stared at the theater even after the taxi drove away. This theater is where his vision will come to life, where he’ll be spending the majority of his life from now on. Once he crossed its threshold, his life wouldn’t be the same. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for that.

“Derek Malik Nurse, if you don’t get your perfect cheekbones in this theater right this second, I’m resigning,” Ford chastised from the door she had just flung open.

“Sorry. I was just…preparing myself.”

Her expression softened as she grabbed his hand gently then gave it a light squeeze.

“You’ll do great.”

“Thanks. Now let’s show our troops their new Commander-in-Chief.”

Ford laughed then walked inside still holding Nursey’s hand. He heard the cacophony of many different voices mingling in the air together. His heart started racing when he thought about how many people placed their trust in him and his script. They reached the entryway right before the room containing the actual stage. Ford gently prodded him forward. Derek’s feet carried him forward until he was down centerstage. The chatter died down to a soft murmur then silence. 

“Hello, I am Derek Nurse, your director, and I am so excited to work with every single one of you.”


	2. Take a Beat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More names and a little flirting?

_“Hello, I am Derek Nurse, your director, and I am so excited to work with every single one of you.”_

The people in the seats erupted into applause and Derek felt his nervousness fade away. All these people believed in him, the least he could do was believe in himself.

“To my cast, thank you for looking at my script and giving it a chance. You guys killed it in the audition process and I know that there are no better people to bring my script to life. I look forward to getting to know you and pushing you to be better actors as I know you will push me to be a better director.”

Just then Ford joined him onstage.

“Here is my better half, Ford.”

“I wouldn’t say better, but definitely more organized. Nurse here is the creativity, but I am the megaphone to make sure you all are here 110% every rehearsal,” Ford said with a small smile, but a fiery determination in her eyes. She was even more radiant when she was in Stage Manager mode. It made Nursey proud to call her his friend.

“She downplays how amazing she is. I could never have gotten this far without her. To my crew, you are the beating heart behind this production. You are all extremely talented in your areas of expertise and I couldn’t feel more proud to have you in my corner.

“All of you have something special within you, I just hope that I can let all of you shine. I have a great feeling about this group of people. I can tell that we’ll be a family in no time.” He smiled widely. “Let’s kick some ass, guys.”

There was a thunderous roar of applause as Nursey took a joking bow. Ford had somehow made a clipboard materialize.

“Now, if we could get you all in a line, so I can get your phone numbers for a group chat,” Ford projected out to the people before her.

The steady flow of chatter returned to the space as they began to line up.

Shitty came up to him and said, “What a glorious motherfucking speech man. Brought tears to my eyes. It’ll be an honor to work under you, you beautiful fucker.”

“Thanks, Shitty. I’m still so happy that you agreed to join the orchestra.”

“Of course, man. I’ll bang some keys for you anytime. Better go get in line. See you.”

“See you, Shits.”

Derek looked around then slipped out of the theater quietly. He just needed to breathe for a second. Just as he exited the room, he was knocked down by what felt like a speeding train.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry. “

“What?” Derek mumbled.

“I’m sorry. I’m late and then I had to knock you down. Fuck. Bad first impression.”

Derek blinked his eyes open and said, “Chill.”

“W-what?”

Derek’s vision focused and he immediately recognized who it was. William Poindexter had crashed into him. He should probably get up now and not stare at Poindexter’s gorgeous biceps in his plaid button down.

“Derek Nurse. I’m very happy to have you working on my project. I can’t thank you enough for reaching out and clearing your schedule to help me with my baby.”

He held out his hand and William looked at it then smiled and shook it. Derek felt his heart skip a beat, not gonna lie. You would too if this beautiful man touched you and smiled. Oh right, he should probably listen to what Poindexter is saying.

“I’m William Poindexter. It’s really me who should be thanking you. I’m excited to work closely with you.”

They smiled each other for a beat longer than is polite. Their hands were still interlocked when Ford came into the hallway frantically.

“Oh, there you are, Derek. Come in quick, you know how actors get when there’s nothing to do. Oh, hello, Mr. Poindexter,” Ford said.

The two men hastily snatched their hands away and glanced away from each other.

“We should go in. You can meet your crew,” Derek said.

“Sounds good,” Will said and began walking into the theater.

Ford was right the actors and crew were getting rowdy in the absence of a director. It had to be squashed before they hit the point of no return. He hopped up on stage.

“Alright, kiddos! I’m going to need all my actors to head out with Cosima over there. Cos, raise your hand!” A short Greek girl with hair to the middle of her back went on her tiptoes and raised her hand.

“Yo! Y’all ready to warm up those pipes for some truly melodious singing?”

There were a few stray whoops as the actors filed out of the theater.

“Musicians, you’re heading off with the one and only Georgia Martin who will be your conductor.”

Georgia waved and said, “Please call me George. Come on.”

“And crew, I’m going to be sending you with Ford to properly get acquainted with who you’re going to be working with and the delegation of things.”

Ford was already at the exit with her hand up like the omniscient goddess that she was. “Come on, my group.”

“Poindexter, you’re staying with me,” Derek called out to stop the retreating William Poindexter.

Will turned around and headed towards the stage. Derek sat down criss-cross-applesauce and hummed “Hopeless” before overanalyzing the fact that he was humming Eliza’s pining song about Hamilton while William was approaching him.

“What’s up?” Will asked.

“So, I wanted to talk set design with you.”

“I would hope that’s what 90% of our conversations are about,” Will said rolling his eyes.

“And the other 10%?” Derek asked teasingly.

Will’s skin started to tint a bit red, so Derek filed that in his mind for later before deciding to act like an adult.

“Just teasing, Will. Can I call you Will?”

Will shrugged. “Most people call me Dex, but do what you want.”

“Alright, Dex.” Nursey paused. “Yeah, I like that. Dex.”

“Set design?” Will said impatiently.

“Chill, Dexy. I’m getting there. We’ll be working very closely together for 8 weeks. We should get to know each other.”

“Whatever, Nurse.”

“Nursey.”

“What?”

“Call me Nursey.”

“O-okay.”

“Do it.”

“What?”

“For Christ’s sake, Poindexter.”

“Fine! Nursey.”

Dex was flushed a deep red now and Derek was alarmed by a strong rush of fondness. Usually, all those muscles and an attractive face only stirred up lust, but Poindexter was. .something else. Be productive, Derek Malik Nurse!

“Anyway, so I was thinking about the set and I was really in love with the idea of having an entire set system rigged to the ceiling and all the sets get like dropped and lifted between scenes. I mean, obviously, the beds and shit like that would get brought in through our crew or stage managers,” Derek rambled.

Will had this strange look on his face. “And you want this set to be three dimensional?”

“Of course, Dexy.”

Will looked up at the ceiling of the theater and frowned. “No.”

“What?”

“No. That’s not going to work in this space or really in most places.”

“You aren’t even going to try?”

“Nursey, you realize that I’ve worked on many shows before right?”

“Yeah, why do you think I was so excited to have you here?”

“Then you also realize that I will know what I’m talking about at least 99% of the time?”

“But what if now is that 1%?”

“Trust me. It’s not.”

“Fine.” Derek pouted. His vision was already not coming to fruition. Will sighed and awkwardly patted Derek’s shoulder.

“We’ll figure something out that will look even better. Don’t worry.”

“God, you’re awful and comforting, huh?”

Will spluttered a bit before saying, “See if I ever do it again, asshole.”

“Aww, Dexy. Don’t spurn me so.”

“Whatever.”

“Chill.”

“I’m getting really sick of you saying that.”

“Chill?”

“Yes,” Will hissed through his teeth.

“You mean,” Derek started with an evil gleam in his eyes, “you aren’t chill with me saying chill?”

“You’re impossible! I’m going to find Ford, who’s obviously the only reasonable person I’ll be working with, and talk to my crew.”

Will stormed out and slammed the door shut after him. Derek burst into rolling waves of laughter.

“God, he’s hot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sooner or later I'm going to actually have to write this musical. Lol. I love Nursey just not being spatially aware and Dex is super smart with that kind of stuff. That's why he can see that Derek Nurse's hand is approximately 2cm from his.
> 
> Yell at me on tumblr @lifeisaseriesofunfortunateevents


	3. Douchebags and Backflips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's take a peek into the past SOs of Derek, Will, and Ford.

_Will stormed out and slammed the door shut after him. Derek burst into rolling waves of laughter. “God, he’s hot.”_

* * *

 

Tonight was the first of the post-rehearsal outings that Nursey liked to sprinkle throughout the rehearsal process. Cast and crew bonding was very important to a successful show because, yeah, everyone is a professional, but a show is that much better when everyone genuinely loves each other. Nursey had rented out this bar called The Haus that had a fraternity-like vibe that Nursey was really feeling.

To top it all off, rehearsal was super productive today. He had finally decided on a set design with Will. He was really surprised by Will’s work ethic. After that first rehearsal, Will came in every day with at least four of these intricate, beautiful set designs, sometimes coming in with 3D dioramas and Nursey saw the same dedication that he has in Will. Every time Nursey approved something or they got closer to a final design, Will would celebrate in his own quiet way, his eyes brightening, a small quirk of his lip, his leg bouncing excitedly. The day they decided on the design, Will hugged him. Then he immediately bounced off of Nurse and turned that dark red that Nursey just loved to look at.

As he waited outside the theater for his uber to the bar, he saw Ford and Dex chatting like they'd been friends for ten years already. He felt a little jealousy pang in his gut, but quickly squashed it because he can deal with systematically squashing attraction in the name of professional behavior but feelings were an entirely different monster. He sauntered towards them just in time to hear Dex launch into a series of snorts and wheezes. Nursey reigned in his laughter because he somehow suspected that Dex wouldn't take kindly to it.

“Wow, Poindexter. Love the laugh.”

Dex noticed him and immediately turned a bright red.

“Piss off, Nurse.”

“No. I think it’s really cute.”

Derek was surprised to see that that rang true as soon as it left his lips. Will’s objectively horrendous laughter was almost endearing to him. Derek would have dwelled on that revelation even further if he didn't see Ford looking back and forth between the two of them before getting that omniscient “Stage Manager Knows All” look that all stage managers have. Will was still muttering various obscenities with a few mentions Nursey’s name when Ford decided to change the subject.

“So, Dex, are you coming to The Haus?” She asked.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I am. I really like to bond with my crew when I work on shows. Everything goes much smoother when people like you,” Dex replied, instantly calming down when Ford spoke to him.

Damn it! There was that jealousy again. “Hmmm, I would have pegged you for the strictly professional type,” Nurse said absent-mindedly.

 

“Well, you've always been awful at reading people, Der. Lest we forget Chad,” Ford teased.

“Ford!” Derek complained.

“Chad?” Dex asked innocently.

“Chad was the one foray Derek here made into the world's dating a lax bro during college."

“Chad was the one foray Derek here made into the world's dating a lax bro during college. Literally, everyone told him that they're all trash, but in typical Nurse fashion, he just said ‘Chill, Ford. You just don't understand. He's like super chill.’”

Dex couldn't help cracking up while Ford was talking.

“I absolutely know what you mean with the ‘chill’ thing. Drives me crazy.”

“You get used to it.”

“That scares me.”

“It should.”

“Excuse me, can you both stop mortally wounding my prize?” Derek whined.

Dex and Ford looked at him at the exact same time with matching shit-eating grins and said, “Chill.”

In that moment, Derek knew he had made a mistake by letting them get close.

“So what happened with Chad?” Dex asked.

“About a week after they started dating, Der bursts into my dorm with this haunted, crazed look in his eyes and he says, ‘He said no homo after we got each other off. Who does that? Who, Ford?’ And then he wouldn't leave for three whole days. I had to bring him ice cream and a fresh pair of clothes.”

Dex was laughing even harder now. It was simultaneously disgusting and cute and Derek really was confused with his taste in men until he saw the muscles in Dex’s back flex.

“Wow. Talk about douchebaggery. I think I have a worse story though. I once dated this guy that could only go out on one day out of the week. Turned out he was dating seven guys at once and kept us on rotation,” Dex said.

“Damn, Will. That's harsh,” Derek sympathized.

Will just shrugged. “I'm just glad I didn't get an STD. Could have been worse.”

“I once dated a girl I'm pretty sure was an up-and-coming serial killer,” Ford offered.

Both Dex and Nurse were shell-shocked into silence. Then Nursey’s phone dinged to say his uber was there.

“Ford, I need those deets at the bar,” Nursey said while waving at the car.

“Sure thing. I'll tell Dex more embarrassing stories about you.”

“Where is the loyalty?”

“Not with you,” Dex said then stuck out his tongue.

Nurse got into his uber, but not before calling out, “See you later, Sexy Dexy.”

He looked out the window just in time to see Will’s middle finger, which strangely delighted him.

* * *

 

“So, long story short, a week after I broke up with her, I saw her face on the news and that there was a nationwide manhunt for her. I turned off the TV because that definitely wasn’t a rabbit hole I wanted to go down into,” Ford finished then took a long swig of her bright green drink.

Nursey had ordered this huge bowl of alcohol that was somehow green. Everyone took one collective look at it before shrugging and filling their cups. It was called Tub Juice.

“Wow, Ford. And I thought I attracted weirdos,” Dex said after letting out a long whistle.

Both Ford and Dex didn’t seem to be very affected by the alcohol, while Derek was already getting slightly out of balance.

“Listen up, you talented motherfuckers. I have sensed through my all-seeing eye that this Tub Juice is going to get us fucked up, so let’s just go over consent, so you beautiful assholes don’t pull some illegal shit and I have to pull out my cursed Harvard degree,” Shitty said after climbing onto the table somehow with his shirt off.

“Fuck Harvard,” Shitty and Lardo yelled in unison.

Nursey had heard this speech so many times at Andover, so he tuned out Shitty’s yelling and turned to Dex.

“Dexyyy, do you dare me to do a backflip right here, right now?” Nursey whispered in his ear.

“What?” Will asked in disbelief.

“A backflip. Bet you I can do it.”

“I’ve seen you in rehearsal, Nurse. You’d trip over your own shadow.”

“So you’re chicken.”

“Chicken?”

“Scared you’re gonna lose the bet.”

“It isn’t a bet without stakes.”

“How about this? Loser owes the winner one unconditional favor to be cashed in at any point in time.”

“I don’t know, Nurse.”

“Chicken!”

“Fine! You’re on.”

Nursey stood up from the table, planted his feet, and proceeded to actually successfully do a backflip and land on his own two feet. Then, he tripped over nothing and fell on his butt. Dex rushed over to the fallen Nursey and helped him up.

“I think. . .I won,” Nursey declared.

“Yeah? How do you want to celebrate?” Dex chuckled.

“Drink!”

“Moderation, Nurse. Moderation.”

“But you drink like a fishy.” “I’m also Irish. Whiskey practically flows in my blood.”

“That explains so much,” Nursey deadpanned before booking it to the punch bowl.

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” Dex called after him.

Derek just chugged an entire cup of Tub Juice in response.

Ford walked up to Dex and said, “Listen, Derek is a great guy. He’s a creative genius and kind to everyone, but he has one major character flaw, among the many minor ones. He can’t hold his alcohol for his life. In college, we had Nursey Patrol to make sure he didn’t like go to Canada and fuck a moose. You might ask why I’m telling you this, but there is one clear reason. I’m trying to lay down the groundwork for a relationship with Cosima and I need someone responsible to keep an eye on my boy. Can I trust you?”

Dex’s eyes widened at the sudden serious tone in the last thing Ford asked. “Of course.”

Ford smiled widely and said, “If I find out you let anything happen to him, I will burn everything you love. Understood?”

"Understood.”

Ford sauntered over to Cosima and began to talk. Dex was in awe that he could feel her game from there. Suddenly Beyonce flooded the speaker of the bar and he saw Bitty mysteriously fist-bumping Chowder. Dex hadn’t known Eric Bittle for a long time, but he already knew the man loved his Beyonce. And Dex had heard of Chris Chow in the technical theater world and he could rig sound with a toothpick and a mug. No doubt the change in music was because of them. “Crazy in Love” shook the entire bar.

“Oh God No,” Dex whispered, horrified because there was Nursey grinding against some stranger on top of the bar.

He walked as quickly as he could to him and guided him down. Nursey pouted, but complied which made Dex’s job infinitely easier.

“Why’d you stop me, Dexy? You wanna turn?”

“Uh, I, um, oh,” Dex stumbled.

“Hey, Will.”

Will looked into Nursey’s beautiful green eyes and melted just a little.

“What?” Will asked.

“Chill.”

“For fuck’s sake.”

Then Nursey passed out.

* * *

 

Nursey groaned as he heard his alarm go off. He moaned as he tried to turn it off. He flopped back on his bed and rubbed his temples. He could only remember flashes of last night. He threw his hand to his nightstand in search of his phone. He felt a piece of paper crinkle under his fingertips and opened his eyes. It was a note. It said, “Took you home. Burger and Gatorade in the fridge. See you at rehearsal. ~Dex”

Was it possible to fall in love through note?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell at me on tumblr @lifeisaseriesofunfortunateevents

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short chapter, but they will be much longer in the future. So I went into this without realizing that I'm going to have to create a musical for Nurse. That is going to be interesting. Thank god for years of musical theater. Wish me luck!


End file.
